Snitch stalking
by flyin'rabbit
Summary: Albus Potter has spent the last two years stalking and obsessing over a girl. But how can he not? She's perfect, in his opinion. Too bad she doesn't know how he feels. Or does she?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: Another short story :) Hopefully you'll like it!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the world of Harry Potter.

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He watched her hovering near the hoops, almost without moving, in utmost concentration. She was fierce, yet graceful at the same time. She was funny, yet serious about the things that mattered most to her. She was smart, yet tremendously oblivious to his affections.

Albus Potter tore his gaze away from her and looked around for the Golden Snitch instead. There it was, speeding around the pitch, now flying almost straight at his brother James. Had this been an official match, Albus would have sped after it without another thought. Now, however, as it was just another practice, he waited a little longer.

As the Snitch proceeded towards the hoops, Albus started moving as well. His eyes briefly left the Snitch to make sure that _she_ was still there. Since that was the case, he concentrated on the little golden ball again. He felt his fingers grasp around it the second before he crashed into something, or rather, someone. Swiftly steadying himself, he looked up, grinning.

"Oops, sorry, Megan. Didn't notice you there."

Megan, having steadied herself as well, glared at him. "I have been here the entire time, Potter. You'd think that, as the Seeker, you'd see everything on the pitch." Before she could continue, the rest of the team had come over.

"What's going on here?" James asked, trying to sound strict.

"_He_," Megan said, pointing accusingly at Albus, "decided that it would be funny to crash into me _again_ in his hunt for the Snitch, claiming _again_ that he hadn't seen me, hurting my arm _again_, and _again_ acting as if I should be _lucky_ that he crashed into me." She folded her arms and continued glaring at Albus.

James ran a hand through his hair, and Albus knew why. He had heard it countless times. James wanted to win that Quidditch Cup. So did Albus, and everyone else on the team. James was trying to make something of the team, while Albus was, presumably, doing nothing but fooling around and crashing into their Keeper at least once every practice just to attract her attention.

"Al, stop crashing into Megan for no reason, _please_," James said exasperatedly, emphasizing the last word. "Both of you need to be in top shape for the game next week. I can't work with a Keeper and a Seeker whose arms and shoulders are full of bruises before the game has even started, thus making them less able to play."

As they continued the practice, Albus kept sneaking glances at Megan. She was concentrating again, but there was a hint of irritation in her eyes that Albus was sure only he noticed. It wasn't discernable for the untrained eye, but Albus, who had been watching Megan quietly (and recently, not so quietly sometimes) for over two years, could easily see it, even from this distance.

After practice, James cornered Albus. "I know," Albus said before James could even open his mouth, "you want that Cup. I do too."

"Yes. So I really need you to stop sabotaging our Keeper, no matter how much you want her to notice you."

Albus gaped at his brother. Sure, he hadn't cared too much this year to hide his obvious affections for his teammate, but James usually wasn't the most perceptive person in the world when it came to those things.

"The only feelings she'll develop towards you will be negative ones this way," James continued, and Albus wondered when, where and how he had gained that knowledge. "Why don't you just try to act normal around her for once?"

Albus shrugged. "That seems to be impossible to do. I can't behave normally around her nowadays."

James smirked. "Don't you think I should be the one to do all that?" He shook his head. "It's in my name, Al, you're stealing my life goal!"

"Right, James, sorry," Albus said, grinning slightly, "the next time I decide to become an obsessive stalker, I'll remember that that was what you've always wanted to be. I'll keep it in mind."

"Obsessive stalker?" James echoed. "I had no idea that it was that bad already…"

Albus snorted. "It's never been anything else, James. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some homework to do."

As he walked away, he heard his brother call after him, "And a girl to stalk!" Rolling his eyes, Albus walked inside. _That goes without saying_, he thought to himself. Although at times he was frustrating himself to no end because of Megan, he had come to terms with his slightly strange obsession ages ago.

Sitting down on his favourite couch in the common room, he took out some parchment to _at least_ look like he was studying. Needless to say, it was only his favourite couch because it provided the best view of Megan as she sat in _her_ usual spot at one of the tables.

After five minutes of trying to write his Potions essay, Albus settled for doing something far more pleasant. He grabbed one of his books, lay down on the couch, and started watching Megan over the top of his book. Somehow, on the Quidditch pitch, he was much more confident. There, he was able to do stupid things in order to catch her attention. Off the pitch, it was a different story. He'd love to just walk over to her, sit down and chat with her for a bit. Instead, he was lying on the couch, feeling sorry for himself. What a Gryffindor he was.

Before he knew it, two hours had passed, but Albus didn't feel bored at all. _How could one become bored while watching such a fine creature?_ he wondered. Her head was supported by her left arm now, which meant that she was having no trouble at all writing whatever she was writing. Suddenly her hand moved up, into her hair. Albus knew that she had, most likely, come across something she didn't understand at first glance. When her right hand joined her left one, he became alarmed. The book she was reading must have been rather difficult, for she didn't seem to get what was in it. If only he knew which book it was…

"Having fun?" a voice, coming from behind him, asked quietly. Albus yelped and turned over, falling onto the floor.

"Rose!" he whisper-shouted. "What did I tell you about sneaking up behind me?"

His cousin raised one eyebrow at him and in the meantime, Albus pushed himself up and instinctively looked over at Megan. She was eyeing them curiously, but when she saw Albus staring back, she quickly turned back to her homework and Albus felt himself flush.

"I think my sneaking up behind persons is rather minimal compared by your sneaking around, Al," Rose responded. "Honestly, do you really think you're being subtle in stalking her? Do you _really_ think she hasn't noticed?"

"She noticed?" Albus asked, allowing his voice to sound slightly panicking. "How? Why? I'm – "

"Too obsessed with her to control your own movements? I doubt that there's a single person in the school who hasn't noticed. Well, James perhaps – "

"No, he noticed as well," Albus said sullenly. So his covering up wasn't as good as it had been before. Just great.

"He does?" Rose asked surprised. "Well, then, I don't have anything to say but this: you're an idiot, Al. Stalking a girl night and day – "

"How do _you_ know about that?" Albus asked, astonished.

Rose shot him a look. "I don't think I want to know what you're talking about, Al. Anyway, stalking a girl doesn't usually make her like you. It makes her creeped out by you. Which isn't good." Rose was now talking as if Albus was a little baby, so he turned his attention back to Megan, only to find that she wasn't there anymore. He glanced at his watch and knew why; Megan always went to her dorm at ten o'clock precisely. Shame he missed her going upstairs now. Maybe she would've bade him a good night in passing.

Albus had completely stopped listening to Rose as she went on and on about girls not liking obsessive boys. "Rose!" he shouted at her suddenly, most likely interrupting her mid-sentence, since everything Rose said usually came in one enormous sentence. "I get it, alright? So yes, maybe I'm a bit over-obsessed with Megan, but it's not as if I _chose_ to be. Maybe that's difficult to believe, but it's the _truth_. I never asked to become a stalkerish person, no one gave me the choice, it just happened. Do you _think_ that if I would have the possibility to stop obsessing over her and have a normal life, whatever you want to call normal, of course, that I wouldn't do that? It's just – she's so _perfect_, you know? She's perfect in every single way." He sighed, looking at his cousin, who looked quite alarmed. Not at him, though. Faster than he would have thought possible, Albus whipped his head around and found himself staring at the girl he had just been talking about.

He looked back at Rose, absolutely mortified, and then he grabbed his book, his parchment and his quill, and flew upstairs to his dorm. A stalker he might be, but that didn't mean that he wanted to shout his feelings for her from the rooftops. Needless to say, he couldn't sleep that night, tossing and turning, wondering where it had gone wrong. Even at night, she didn't leave his thoughts. Deciding that staring at the ceiling wasn't going to help him, he went back to the common room at about two in the morning.

Since he couldn't sleep and there was nothing (or rather, nobody) to distract him now, Albus started his Potions essay which, to his surprise, was rather easy to complete without Megan around. When he had finished the essay, he suddenly felt uneasy. Almost as if someone was watching him. He looked around the common room, until he found the culprit. Sitting on the stairs to the girls' dorm and staring at him with a blank expression on her face was Megan, and Albus felt like a tomato once more.

"M-Megan?" he asked in a higher voice than usual, "w-what brings you here?" Once confronted with Megan, there were two options for Albus, between which he couldn't choose. The first option was stuttering and stammering and not knowing what to say to her. The second option wasn't any better: it mostly consisted of him becoming some sort of macho, making all kinds of innuendo's to her which she usually didn't appreciate, and flirting shamelessly with her. So in general, he was used to making a complete fool out of himself when around Megan. He also suddenly understood how she, and everyone else, had noticed his obsession with her. When he thought about it, he had to come to the conclusion that he was rather bad at hiding it.

"Showing you what it's like to have someone constantly watching everything you do," she replied quietly. She stood up from the stairs and walked over to where Albus was sitting. "It's unnerving," she added, "knowing that you can't do a single thing – move a single limb – say a single word – without somebody else noticing and recording it." As she continued staring at him, Albus indeed felt uneasy, and yet, it felt completely natural to just sit there, gazing into her eyes without anyone near.

All of a sudden, too soon for his liking, Megan broke the eye contact and walked back towards the stairs. Albus twisted in his chair to catch a last glimpse of her. "Stop stalking me, Potter," she said softly, before heading towards her dorm, leaving a very silent Albus behind.

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**A/N**: Well, what did you think? Just for the record - there will be only one other chapter. Let me know what you think, please review! =)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Second chapter! I hope you'll all enjoy it :)

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own :(

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When Albus woke up the next morning, he knew that there was no way that he could possibly stop stalking Megan. He might as well stop breathing, then. Entering the Great Hall for breakfast, he saw the most peculiar thing: Megan wasn't there yet. He slowly made his way towards his usual seat (as always, it was the seat from where he had the best view of his greatest obsession), while looking around for a glimpse of her. She really wasn't there.

She didn't show up for breakfast, or for any class before lunch. Shifting in his seat, Albus wondered what he should do; he was starting to become very worried.

"Al! Are you alright?" Rose asked, coming out of nowhere.

Albus shrugged. "I have no idea," he confessed. Nothing was really wrong, just the unexplained and (to him) unexplainable absence of a certain girl.

Rose looked at him sympathetically. "I guess she's still in bed," she quietly informed him. "She was up rather late last night." Albus didn't ask how Rose knew about his concern; he figured that that was easy to figure out.

"I know," he said. "Me too."

Rose's eyebrows temporarily disappeared under her bangs. "Oh? Did you… talk, or something?"

"I wouldn't really call it that," Albus answered, shrugging again. "She told me to stop stalking her and then she left…"

"Well, maybe you should listen to her," Rose suggested. "It would make her life a whole lot more bearable, she reckons."

Albus only stared at her. "She really hates me, then," he concluded grimly. Further ignoring Rose (which wasn't unusual for him, but then again, she often ignored him too), he stood up and walked out of the Great Hall. Before he had decided where to go, he walked headfirst into something. Someone, actually.

"Al! Watch where you're going, would you?" James said jokingly.

Upon seeing his brother, Albus was struck with an idea. "James! Can I borrow the Map for a couple of hours? Now?"

"What do you need the Map for?" James asked suspiciously, placing one hand over one of his pockets protectively.

"I – er," Albus hesitated. He had no idea how James would react if he told him the truth. "Can't tell," he said, grinning slightly, hoping that this might make his brother give in. And indeed, that sort-of-mischievous look made James pull a piece of parchment out of his pocket.

"Here," he said, handing Albus the map. "Don't lose it. You can return it at practice tonight."

"Sure, James," Albus said dismissively. He headed outside and started studying the Map. _Where could she be?_ he thought continuously. Finally, he spotted her in some abandoned classroom on the fourth floor. Getting up to head over there, he noticed something else. Megan wasn't alone.

Feeling a strange emotion come over him, Albus continued staring at the Map. Against better judgement, he had already made his decision. This he couldn't believe. He hastily ran back indoors and up four flights of stairs, into some or other hallway. A lump had formed in his throat and however much he swallowed, it wouldn't go away. He marched towards the classroom and halted outside. The last thing he wanted was for him to storm inside and find them doing something he wouldn't want to be a witness of.

Wondering if she had been here all day already, he crouched down against the door, pressing his ear against it.

"Oh, come on, Megan, you know you want to," a male voice said, sounding amused but at the same time annoyed.

"Just – let me go!" Albus heard Megan shout. She sounded quite panicked. Scared. Desperate. He couldn't recall Megan every sounding desperate and scared, so maybe the scene inside wasn't like he had imagined it to be. He wanted to kick himself for even imagining such thing; the only thing Megan was interested in was Quidditch. She couldn't care less about boys. He should know that by now.

"No," the male voice said in a low tone. "You know I can't do that. If you're just as fiery off the Quidditch Pitch as on it… this should be fun." There was a short silence, and then Albus heard laughter, though not happy laughter. "Come on, Megan, you know that nobody can hear you here. No one knows where you are. Not even that crazy stalker of yours. Not even Potter can help you now."

Before he even knew what he was doing, Albus was on his feet and burst into the classroom. Alright, so maybe it was a scene he'd rather not be the witness of, but in a different way. For what had to be the first time in ages, Megan actually looked happy to see him. But then again, she would've been happy with anyone.

"Let go of her," Albus said in a calmer voice than he would've thought possible in a situation like this. He had his wand out and pointed it at the boy. A Slytherin, by the looks of it. He looked vaguely familiar, but not familiar enough for Albus to know his name or really anything else.

The Slytherin boy smirked at him. "Well, look who it is. Potter." He looked down at Megan. "Seems like I underestimated the extent of his obsession after all. Your stalker really follows you everywhere." Then, he looked back at Albus, who could feel himself reddening again. Whether from anger or embarrassment he couldn't tell himself, but it made him all the more determined to get rid of this creep. "What makes you think you can win anyway, Potter?" the boy added.

"The fact that I have a wand and you don't, perhaps?" Albus suggested. The boy looked around wildly for his wand, but it really had gone. Both boys' attention was caught by Megan, who, after escaping the boy's clutches, had opened one of the windows and was dangling a wand outside of it. Before they knew what was happening, she had dropped it. Feeling more confident than ever, Albus now smirked at his opponent. "What are you waiting for? Go get it back. And leave Megan alone, understood?"

Before walking out of the classroom, the Slytherin called over his shoulder, "I could tell you the same thing, Potter!"

Seething inside, Albus turned around to face Megan. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. "What happened?"

"I-I'm fine, I guess," Megan answered, not looking him in the eye. "I don't know, I was just heading towards the Great Hall and he appeared out of nowhere and just pulled me in here and – you probably know the rest. How did you even know I was here though?"

"You don't want to know," Albus muttered. Megan studied him for a moment and then walked out of the classroom as well.

"Are you stalking me again?" she asked two minutes later, as they made their way through the school.

"I might," Albus answered, grinning. "But above all, I'm heading to class. You know, I've got Transfiguration now."

Megan thought for a moment. "Oh. Right. Me too." She started walking a little quicker, but Albus could still easily keep up with her. The remainder of their journey was silent, and Albus took it as another opportunity to observe Megan.

When they arrived at Transfiguration, class hadn't started yet. As there were hardly any spots left, Albus and Megan were forced to sit next to each other. Not that Albus minded. He was aware that she hadn't thanked him for saving her, but that would almost be thanking him for stalking her, he figured.

"Where were you this morning?" he asked at last, no longer able to keep the question to himself.

"That's none of your business, Potter," Megan replied, rolling her eyes. He must've looked particularly hurt by her statement, for a second later she added, "Alright. I was still in bed. Happy now?"

Albus gave her a small smile, but then kept his eyes on the front of the classroom, pretending to concentrate on what the Professor was saying now, but knowing that he failed miserably. He was very aware of Megan's presence next to him, sitting so close to him, closer than ever; she usually preferred to stay away from him as far as she could, and the only times when they had been closer were when Albus would purposefully fly into her during Quidditch practice. Quite pathetic, when you thought about it.

The remainder of the afternoon, for Albus, was spent in the library. It seemed that Megan was even further behind on her homework than he was, since for once, he'd been able to do something there. She had chosen to sit at a table that was completely blocked from anyone's view, so Albus had opted for a seat near the exit instead. The Map was lying next to him, out of anyone else's sight, and he kept half an eye on Megan's dot, in case the Slytherin creep returned.

That night at practice he quickly handed James the Map back. Before his brother could ask him what kind of prank he had pulled, Albus had slipped into the changing rooms.

Since the sun was setting already, Albus had a tough time trying to spot the Snitch and focusing on what he had to do. Especially since the setting sun gave Megan's hair such an exceptionally beautiful glimmer, making her seem even more perfect to Albus. It was probably a good thing that she was (or at least appeared) so concentrated during practice; that made it a lot less uncomfortable for him to gaze at her.

Suddenly, he also saw the Snitch, hovering near the hoops as well. Smirking to himself, he took off towards it. Grasping the small ball, he prepared himself for another crash, but it never came.

He looked around and his eyes found Megan, who had avoided the crash by flying up a couple of feet, smirking at him. "Not today, Potter. _Not today_."

He grinned back and released the Snitch again, giving the tiny thing a couple of minutes to fly around before taking after it, and giving himself an excuse to stay near the hoops for a little longer. Alright, not today. Maybe another day, then.

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**A/N**: So, what did you think of this second chapter? :) It's also the last chapter of this fic, but I'm (slowly, unfortunately) working on a sequel :) Anyway, in the meantime, please review to tell me whether or not you liked this :)


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